Hollie
“I would describe Hollie as a ‘super mum’. She is a very caring person and just loves all her kids to bits. I was so pleased that she reached out so we could give her a hand.”
While being a parent or caregiver is never an easy ride, for busy mum-of-five Hollie, life has been more challenging than for most. Hollie had called rural Kaipara home for around two and a half years when she was forced to move after the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle saw her whānau lose everything – with their home destroyed by flooding.
At the time, Hollie, her partner, and their three children Islah (9), Jamal (7), and Maliah (3) were loving rural life and all the fun and freedom that came with it.
“The nearest town was Dargaville and that was an hour away, so we learnt to be completely self-sufficient. We wanted to give the kids opportunities to connect with the land and raise them to have a different set of skills,” she says.
Hollie and Jamal.
Jamal uses touch and some sounds to communicate and he’s good at getting his point across this way. He is a curious kid and is keen to explore his environment, but his impairment means that he is constantly at risk of getting lost or finding himself in unsafe situations.
“We had some great support in his earlier years before we moved out to Kaipara, so I felt like I had a clear idea of how to give him a good life. He has his quirks, but he’s so intelligent and cheeky. He’s a lovely boy.”
With their local primary school unable to keep him safe or offer any additional support for his learning, she enrolled him at Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (formerly known as The Correspondence School). There were limited options for formal support in the isolated community so she managed as best she could, while juggling a busy family life. “I became his Teacher Aide during that time to support his learning – and that worked well,” says Hollie.
Then came February 2023’s extreme weather event and their world was turned upside down. With no rental options available, Hollie and her whānau were forced into emergency housing in Whangārei. While they were extremely grateful to have a roof over their heads, caring for three young children while living in a hotel room was a constant juggle.
Hollie is an upbeat and positive person, and her response to the situation they found themselves in was no different. “We treated it as a holiday for the first few days – and it was! It did become harder after we had been there a while as there was no outdoor area for the kids. We made it work as best we could, but it was very stressful ensuring Jamal was safe,” she says.
A friend of Hollie’s suggested she get in touch with the CCS Disability Action Northland branch. There she met Linda Halls and Robyn Hansen, community coordinators who specialise in working with families. “I would describe Hollie as a ‘super mum’. She is a very caring person and just loves all her kids to bits. I was so pleased that she reached out so we could give her a hand,” says Robyn. “The family had been through a traumatic time and Hollie was, not surprisingly, exhausted. My job was to support Hollie to put some immediate things in place.”
Robyn Hansen.
Robyn’s first area of focus was to support the family to find somewhere to live that suited a family, and more specifically Jamal’s needs. “He’s a rural boy and just isn’t used to navigating city hazards,” says Robyn.
She connected Hollie with the Ministry of Social Development to try and get the family into transitional housing – a short-term measure until a suitable long-term home was available. They were successfully placed into a fully fenced, single level property in Whangārei. Robyn also put in some calls to fit all the windows and doors with high-quality fixtures, to ensure Jamal is safe and Hollie doesn’t have to worry about him escaping.
“The house is awesome, and it’s got a big back garden for the kids to play in,” says Hollie. Robyn also supported Hollie to get an assessment for formal disability support through the local Needs Assessment and Service Coordination (NASC) agency. The outcome of this would free up funding for much needed resources for the family.
While they certainly miss their connection with the beautiful natural environment of Kaipara, life is looking up for the loving family. Hollie has taken over the full-time care of two other disabled children from her family, six-year old twin girls called Alexis and Olivia. Jamal is enrolled at a local school and is beginning to meet children his own age.
Hollie is philosophical about the upheaval. “I think we were starting to feel that we wanted more for our kids than we could offer them in Kaipara, so in a funny way the cyclone has had a silver lining.”
Robyn – known as ‘Auntie Robyn’ to the kids – feels her role was simple: to connect Hollie with the ‘right’ people, to allow her to tap into the support available. It’s a relationship she feels lucky to have. “Jamal is such a great kid. He has the biggest, cheekiest smile and loves to have a laugh. We’ll be here for the family as long as they need us.”
